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Post by thesportscritic on Sept 12, 2005 9:18:10 GMT -5
Hey PAmedic that is a picture of Lara setting the ball to one of the Outside Hitters. At least you tried to explain the volleyball info to the best of your ability.
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Post by ATrain on Sept 12, 2005 18:19:32 GMT -5
As the reporter for the Champion, here is the article that will be appearing tomorrow:
The Lady Flames volleyball team went three-and-one at the William and Mary Invitational this past weekend, picking up their first wins of the season after dropping all four matches last weekend on the West Coast. The Lady Flames tasted victory for the first time on Friday morning, defeating former conference rival Elon University 3-1. Liberty took the first two games, 30-25 and 30-20, before the Phoenix began to bring their own heat by taking game three, 30-28. Unfortunately for the Phoenix, the Flames would prove to be the hotter team by taking game four, 31-29 for the match and their first victory of the season. “It feels great, it feels incredible, we didn’t play our best but we can definitely step it up and continue on. The third game, I think that we let up in the beginning, and that affected us the rest of the game so we had to turn it around the next game and start out strong.” said freshman outside hitter Kendall Nichols, who recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore outside hitter and tournament MVP Jessica Nelson also recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs. Setter Lara Bartolomeo, the team’s shortest player, was also a key component in the match as she had 35 assists as well as two crucial blocks in the last game to secure the win. Liberty then faced the Binghamton Bearcats later that day. With the aftertaste of lunch still in their mouths the Lady Flames dropped game one 30-17, but were still hungry for the taste of victory by winning games two and three 30-28, 30-28, and then coming back to take game four 33-31 for the match. “We went to lunch, and I was scared, we had to use up a lot of energy in the first match because they were so close and I was scared they would come out a little sluggish, and they did just that, and I just told them between one and two that we need to find some energy from somewhere to even have a chance in this thing and they showed tremendous resolve and fight and it was a tremendous win for us.” said head coach Shane Pinder. Fight and resolve was what it took to win, as the Lady Flames had to put down several Bearcat runs in games two and three and come from behind to win the match in game four. Nichols and Nelson proved to be a deadly combination as they each recorded another double-double. Nichols had 16 kills and 17 digs while Nelson recorded 18 kills and 11 digs. Bartolomeo recorded 52 assists. It was a close match throughout, it could’ve gone either way, and we just didn’t execute towards the end and its just a couple of shots here and there, that’s all it takes.” said Binghamton head coach Glenn Kiriyama. On Saturday, the Lady Flames began with a 3-0 loss to the St. John Red Storm. The Red Storm took an early advantage in each game, and was able to cruise to the shutout victory, 30-20, 30-16, and 30-20. Saturday night saw the Lady Flames in action against tournament host, the William and Mary Tribe. The Flames won that match, 3-1, and once again Nichols and Nelson proved to be a deadly combination as they both added another double-double to their careers. The wins have helped the young Lady Flames gain some confidence as they get ready to head into the rest of the season. “Sometimes as a coach, I lose sight with my competitiveness how young we are on the floor, that four of the seven on the floor are only in their second weekend of Division I competition. I think that we’ve got confidence now with some wins under our belt.” said coach Pinder. The Lady Flames will take that confidence on the road again as they face the Davidson Wildcats on September 13 before heading to Charlottesville to compete in the Fairfield Inn Jefferson Cup tournament with host Virginia, Albany, and Appalachian State.
CRAP-I used way too many contractions in that thing
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Post by PAmedic on Sept 14, 2005 8:31:44 GMT -5
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Post by thesportscritic on Sept 14, 2005 9:04:24 GMT -5
An ugly game to say the least but they sucked it up and won on the road.
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Post by Stevev on Sept 14, 2005 14:58:43 GMT -5
Nice to beat a team from the Southern conference even if it is only Davidson.
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Post by ATrain on Sept 15, 2005 14:54:16 GMT -5
We beat Elon too...the real test from the SoCon comes Saturday against Appalachin State at the tourny up in Charlottesville. So far Appy State is owning the Big South in volleyball.
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Post by Stevev on Sept 15, 2005 15:16:27 GMT -5
Elon ain't much. UVA and app state would be a significant challenge for us.
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Post by ATrain on Sept 16, 2005 21:44:33 GMT -5
Albany killed us today, 3-0. Did not have fun doing that interview with coach Pinder, and am not looking forward to doing another one if we lose...but I do get to interview UVA's coach tomorrow, w00t!!!
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Post by ATrain on Sept 18, 2005 18:38:12 GMT -5
Put up a good fight with UVA (except game two), but lost 3-1, and came out flat against Appy State but started fighting, and just weren't able to pull it out, falling 3-0. Key quote of my article (that I'll post later) "We're a young team, and we need to learn how to take the next two games after winning game one. We just haven't learned how to do that yet."
Coach Pinder is doing an awesome job with the ladies (we beat W&M which in my opinion we should've lost) and they've also demonstrated some fight and resolve, beating Davidson and Bingamton after being down. They're at home on Tuesday against JMU at the Vines Center.
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Post by thesportscritic on Sept 20, 2005 8:00:16 GMT -5
The Volleyball team will have their home opener tonight against JMU. For those in the Lynchburg area and surrounding cities try to check them out. The game starts at 7:00 pm in the Vines Center. For those who can't make it, if you have the Liberty Channel it will be on television on that channel tonight.
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Post by Stevev on Sept 20, 2005 9:21:12 GMT -5
I might check it out. A win would be great considering their disappointing performance at UVA last weekend.
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Post by ATrain on Sept 20, 2005 15:15:45 GMT -5
The article:
The Lady Flames volleyball team began their week hot and ended it ice cold, defeating Davidson 3-2 on Tuesday before they dropped their next three matches against Albany, Virginia, and Appalachian State at the Fairfield Inn Jefferson Cup tournament this past weekend. On Tuesday, the Lady Flames were coming off a strong showing at the William and Mary Invitational, and took that momentum against the Davidson Wildcats. The Lady Flames took game one 30-24, but the Wildcats shook it off and took game two, 30-18. Game three was a tight battle, but Davidson was able to outlast Liberty and won 30-28. Down 2-1, the Lady Flames turned up the heat and took game four 30-22 to send the match to a fifth game. In game five, Liberty beat Davidson 15-13 for the match. Freshman outside hitter Kendall Nichols and sophomore outside hitter Jessica Nelson both added another double-double to their careers. Nichols had 21 kills and 15 digs and Nelson had 17 kills and 16 digs. Sophomore setter Lara Bartolomeo had 48 assists and 14 digs. On Friday evening, the Lady Flames were extinguished by the Albany Great Danes, 3-0. Liberty was unable to present much of a challenge to Albany, as the Great Danes took 30-20, game two 30-14, and game three 30-22. “We did not serve tough enough to keep them out of system and put any pressure on them, and as a team we did not block. A combination of them being a really good team and us not playing well and that is the result.” said head coach Shane Pinder. On Saturday afternoon, the Lady Flames faced the Virginia Cavaliers in their second match of the tournament. In game one, the Cavaliers came out strong, gaining a 10-1 advantage before the Lady Flames fought back to win 30-24. That ended up being the only game Liberty would win in the tournament, as Virginia took game two 30-10, and from there won tough battles in games three and four, 30-22 and 30-21. “Our passing improved and our defense improved, we came out with a big run in game one and our guard let down. Liberty is a good team and we just weren’t ready to play in game one. Once we turned that around in game two, everything just seemed to snap and we played like we could.” said Virginia head coach Mary Shelton. “Virginia is a really good team; they are an established program, picked third in
the Atlantic Coast Conference and our team, being so young, needs to learn how to win
the next two after winning game one, and we just have not learned how to do that yet.”
said coach Pinder.
Liberty concluded play in the Jefferson Cup tournament with a 3-0 loss to the
Appalachian State Mountaineers. Appalachian State came out strong as they won game
one 30-16. The Lady Flames fought hard in game two, but the Mountaineers held on and
won 30-25. Liberty fought even harder in game three, but was unable to stop the shut-out
as Appalachian State took game three 34-32 for the match.
The Lady Flames will play their first home game on Tuesday night against the
Dukes of James Madison before heading into Big South Conference play on Friday at
Radford.
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Post by Sly Fox on Sept 20, 2005 18:07:44 GMT -5
Every story shows improvement, ATrain. You're on your way toward being a legit writer.
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Post by ATrain on Sept 20, 2005 23:19:33 GMT -5
Thanks Sly...I greatly appreciate it...that means a lot to me
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Post by PAmedic on Sept 21, 2005 14:32:01 GMT -5
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Post by Stevev on Sept 21, 2005 15:57:36 GMT -5
I saw the game on the Liberty channel. It looks like we had them beat and then folded down the stretch.
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Post by ATrain on Sept 22, 2005 9:30:29 GMT -5
Basically thats what happened Steve...except game 2, where they just owned us. As Coach Pinder told me previously this weekend "Its a matter of being able to take games two and three after game one, and this being a young team we have just not learned how to do that yet." My latest article will be finished after we play Radford on Friday.
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grm
Full Member
Posts: 158
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Post by grm on Sept 22, 2005 14:30:14 GMT -5
I'm really ticked off at myself for missing the tournament in San Diego. Gotta get up on my schedules. How do I say this ? I know it's about the W's, but it's great to have a great coach who also happens to be a strong Bible Believer. Go Pinder - Go Flames!
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Post by ATrain on Sept 24, 2005 16:13:21 GMT -5
Yes...I must admit, Coach Pinder and Lady Flames Volleyball are great representations of Christ, both on the court and off. Coach Pinder is very respectful when approaching refs/umps about questionable calls, unlike Winthrop's Joel whatever-his-last-name-is, and the Lady Flames are just awesome. I remember after losing to Albany the Lady Flames continued their tradition of praying on court after matches, and they were joined by the Albany team, and some players from Appy St. and UVa...it was awesome to watch.
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Post by PAmedic on Sept 26, 2005 14:43:19 GMT -5
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Post by Stevev on Sept 26, 2005 15:54:39 GMT -5
I don't think that this win helps LU's cause too much. Radford is not that good. Winthrop and coastal are the teams to beat in the BSC.
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Post by ATrain on Sept 26, 2005 16:54:16 GMT -5
Yes...Radford does suck amd Winthrop and Coastal are clear favorites...BUT the Lady Flames do gain a lotta experience from these 4, 5 game matches which will be helpful for when it really matters: tournament time. I'm just hoping we make it past the first round so I can go with them to Coastal Carolina (Yes...the Champion newspaper included it in their budget to send a reporter to the VBall tourney...and hmm, that reporter is ME).
Oh yeah...here's the article I wrote about this weekend:
The young Lady Flames volleyball team re-kindled the fire that was evident earlier in the season, pushing the Dukes of James Madison to five games before falling and going on the road to defeat arch-rival Radford University in five games to open Big South Conference play. On Tuesday night, the Lady Flames played their first home game against the Dukes of James Madison University in front of an extremely supportive crowd. Liberty opened a sizeable lead and held off a late rally by the Dukes to take game one, 30-26. The Dukes, down one game, proved that they were not going to be an easy team to beat by taking game two, 30-16. In game three, both teams battled hard with JMU leading most of the way, but it was Liberty that came out on top 31-29. The Lady Flames and Dukes then battled just as hard in game four, but it was JMU that held on to take it 30-28, tying the match at two games apiece. Game five was close early, but the more experienced, senior-led JMU squad was able to defeat the younger Lady Flames, 15-6, for the match. “We have been working hard on finishing games. We often find ourselves down a few points and have a tough time finishing. We’ve really worked hard on that in practice. Our kids did a good job of listening and executing, and changing our shot selection towards the end of the match made a huge difference.” said JMU head coach Disa Garner. “Every team we face this year is, unfortunately, going to be the same story. We’re really young, and most teams have three, sometimes four seniors to anchor their teams in tough matches. The way we see it, that is the first half of the season and that is over. Now we start conference play and each match we’re trying to get better so that at the end of the year we can put ourselves in a position to be as tough as we can down the stretch.” said head coach Shane Pinder. The Lady Flames proved to be too tough for the Radford Highlanders on Friday night, defeating their arch-rivals 3-2. The last time Radford defeated Liberty was when the Highlanders swept the Lady Flames in 2001 en route to a 14-0 conference record, only to be upset in the Big South Conference tournament finals by the Lady Flames. The young Lady Flames showed that they wanted to continue their win streak against Radford, taking game one 32-30. The Highlanders showed that they were eager to snap the streak in game two, winning 30-19. The Lady Flames demonstrated their youthful resilience in game three, taking it 30-22. Radford’s seniors stepped up and captured game four, 30-24, but the young Lady Flames proved once again that they had fight and resolve, as they took game five 15-9. For the match, Liberty had four players who recorded double-digit kills. Junior middle blocker Autum Poorman had 18, freshman outside hitter Alysson Sanders had 12, junior middle blocker Rachel Denton had 10, and freshman outside hitter Kendall Nichols also had 10 in addition to 18 digs for a double-double. The Lady Flames return home to the Vines Center to face the High Point Panthers on Friday at 7 PM followed by a 2 PM Saturday match with three-time defending conference champion Winthrop.
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Post by ATrain on Oct 1, 2005 6:15:15 GMT -5
Lost 3-1 last night...tough match, but today Winthrop will change its name to Losethrop...lets go LADY FLAMES.
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Post by WinthropEagleFan on Oct 1, 2005 10:30:29 GMT -5
So you think LU will be the one to end WU's 23-game conference winning streak?
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Post by thesportscritic on Oct 1, 2005 17:01:34 GMT -5
I watched the game today and our defense on the court especially in the back court is very poor. We lost for those who don't know 3-0 (26-30, 20-30, 21-30) Until our defense closes up those holes in the backcourt, then it could be a long season in the conference. Someone has to step up in that backcourt and our current Libero in my opinion isn't getting the job done. I thought we blocked a little better vs Winthrop than we did against High Point. 0-3 at home. This is starting to irritate me a lot. Winthrop has a fine team this season. Good luck to your Volleyball team Winthropeaglefan this season. Here is the story from the game today. www.libertyflames.com/volleyball/news.asp?news_id=2741
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Post by ATrain on Oct 1, 2005 17:36:38 GMT -5
No WEF...just talkin a little smack...our team is young, but we've got potential...coach Pinder is already looking to the future which he says will be "very exciting".
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Post by thesportscritic on Oct 1, 2005 17:38:24 GMT -5
No WEF...just talkin a little smack...our team is young, but we've got potential...coach Pinder is already looking to the future which he says will be "very exciting". Our team has potential hopefully our defense will tighten up.
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Post by WinthropEagleFan on Oct 1, 2005 17:49:56 GMT -5
No WEF...just talkin a little smack...our team is young, but we've got potential...coach Pinder is already looking to the future which he says will be "very exciting". Hey..i don't blame you for thinking about a W at all. I go into every game thinking that my team can win...
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Post by Realist on Oct 2, 2005 10:58:08 GMT -5
I think this is the weakest team we've had in awhile, esp with a couple of girls out. Interesting to see if they can go undefeated again.
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Post by bigsmooth on Oct 2, 2005 16:51:06 GMT -5
SCAR, PAmedic and i were at the volleyball match yesterday vs. winthrop...BTW the girls are not very good right now, and are very young. anyway we were discussing the player on each team with the different jersey called a "libero" well i promised an article on what this actually is so read on!
Liberos are leaders on volleyball court However it's pronounced, position is key as Duke, UNC meet
By RACHEL CARTER, Staff Writer
DURHAM -- Time to add pronunciation to the list of things North Carolina and Duke disagree on. Each team has a volleyball squad that contains a player called the "libero."
The Duke libero, Jenny Shull, pronounces the word "lee-bro."
The UNC libero, Taylor Rayfield says "la-bear-o."
As Shull says, it's a "po-tay-to, po-tah-to" issue in the volleyball world.
The NCAA adopted the libero position in 2002, using the international model. High schools in North Carolina added the libero this year. The libero is a defensive player who plays on the back line and generally is her team's top passer and digger.
"My job out there is to keep our team in defensive control,"said Shull, whose Blue Devils play the Tar Heels tonight at 7 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"Before [the libero was added], you had more offensive players, so they were trying to add a defensive player to get more rallies and to make the game more interesting to spectators," Shull said. "And it makes the game more interesting to us, because you're keeping rallies going."
Special rules govern a libero. She is not allowed to play in the front line. She can't block. She can't hit the ball while it's above the net.
There are more confusing rules about a libero's play -- the position gets three pages by itself in the NCAA Volleyball Rules manual -- so an official tracks libero play during a match.
To distinguish the libero, she wears a distinctively different jersey than her teammates. For example, if UNC wears blue, Rayfield wears white.
"It's like wearing a big target on yourself," Rayfield said. "You're supposed to be the best passer and the best digger on the court, and so if someone serves you the ball and you don't put up the best ball, you draw even more attention to yourself."
The top of a volleyball net is supposed to be 7 feet, 4 1/8 inches off the floor, and the libero position typically is played by smaller athletes. Shull, a sophomore, is 5-5 and Rayfield, a senior, 5-8. Many college hitters and blockers tend to be taller, often 6-0 and taller.
"It gives opportunities for players that aren't 6-2 to make an impact," Duke coach Jolene Nagel said.
The libero always plays on the back line, and special substitution rules exist to prevent her from rotating to the front.
A strong libero must have four qualities, Nagel says. She must be quick, focused, able to read opponents and able to control the ball.
"If you have someone back there who is constantly digging balls, constantly passing balls and controlling the defense on the court, that's really important," Rayfield said. "Normally, liberos are in for most of the game, so they know what's going on, what kind of hit, where the blockers line up, so it's really important to have that person back there all the time."
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